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Harlem residents say that a city project to rebuild Riverside Drive north of 135th Street will strip trees from the roadway's center median and make the landscaped roadway more like an expressway.
"They're coming in here and messing up our side of Riverside Drive, making it a highway that will be eligible for trucks and will be no longer convenient to cross the street," said Ann Rocker, who chairs the North River Community Environmental Review Board.
The Harlem-based Community Board 9, as well as local environmental groups, are opposing the $9-million city Department of Transportation project slated to begin in late fall from 135th Street, just north of an overpass, to 153rd Street.
In addition to the loss of trees, they say the project will narrow sidewalks and increase traffic problems in West Harlem, especially with a second road project slated for nearby Broadway...